Heartbreakers is not the type of movie you go into expecting much, and because of that it delivers more than you’d expect. It’s a lighthearted, whimsical story about a mother and daughter team who seduces men just to get their money. In real life we’d call them gold diggers (or much worse), but in this movie they’re viewed as unlikely entrepreneurs.

Sigourney Weaver is Max. She’s an attractive, older woman who believes a relationship with a man is not only pointless, it is also harmful and will only lead to pain. Men, she thinks, will always cheat if given the opportunity. The last time she had a relationship she had a child, Page (Jennifer Love Hewitt), who’s now blossomed in a voluptuous young temptress. Max has raised Page to distrust men, and together the two work as a pair to not only seduce men, but to destroy them as well (although that’s not the women’s prime motive). First, Max makes the man fall in love with her, then when he marries her Page moves in and seduces him. Cheating seems a surefire method for a quick divorce and a healthy payout settlement. All the while, each go to great lengths to ensure that while they’re doing this they never have sex with the men (the guys in the movie are that gullible) and, more importantly, they never form any type of emotional attachment.

Weaver’s perfect as the cunning Max. She’s proven her talent at playing a stone cold ice-queen in Ang Lee’s dreary The Ice Storm. Here she takes a daring but effective comic turn with that type of character with fine results. And while the aging Weaver’s still good to look at, being the eye candy is really the job of Jennifer Love Hewitt in this film. With skimpy outfits and plenty of cleavage, she commands the screen without speaking a word. However, while these two are good, I thoroughly enjoyed Gene Hackman’s role as tobacco billionaire Willam B. Tensy. Hackman’s never exactly had leading man looks, and here he’s willing to make himself look even worse than usual -- much worse, but with great results. Ray Liotta pops in too. He seems to have resuscitated his career, first as the ill-fated Paul Krendler in Hannibal, and now here as Dean Cumanno, Max and Page’s first victim in the film.

This is lightweight entertainment, just like the recently released The Mexican. I enjoyed it, and laughed out loud more than a couple of times. And although the whole thing goes on a tad too long, it’s better than most of the mindless comedies we’ve had thrown at us. That makes it worth a *** rating.

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